Advisors

Abhay Sardesai

Editor in Chief,
Art India Magazine, Mumbai

Editor of Art India Magazine since November 2002, Abhay Sardesai is a notable Indian academic and has successfully added a Cultural Studies orientation to the magazine. His past academic roles include being a Visiting Faculty in Aesthetics in Mumbai University, as well as Chair of Humanities, Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture, Mumbai. Along with teaching at Smt. P. N. Doshi Women's College of Arts, Jnanapravaha and TISS, he has also read his works on Art and Literature at prestigious institutions like University of Princeton, University of Cambridge, Mumbai University, S.N.D.T. University, Sarai and NGMA. His work also involves translating from Marathi, Gujrati, Konkani. As part of the research collective PUKAR, he held the Directorial position of the 'Writing Across the City' project, exploring inter-relationships between literatures and literary cultures in Mumbai.

Anand Chordia

Director - The Artistic Shift, Chairman- Food Processing Industry

A dynamic third generation entrepreneur, Anand Chordia has successfully restructured a traditional family business into a well known International brand. A Graduate in Botany and Post Graduate in Food Science, Anand is the Director- Technical of Pravin Spices, Suhana. He has brought Innovation and Technology to a traditional spices and pickles business, giving it a prominent place in the Global Market. Anand's vision is to take traditional Indian food to a global food map. He has established India’s first ever ‘Waste Management Park; Learning and Awareness Centre’ which trains people about Waste to Wealth Approach. Very impactful and much needed work for sustainable upliftment of farmers livelihood is done through “Sustainable Farming and Rural Entrepreneurship Program”, initiated by Anand at TEFF. Anand also serves as Director on the board of “The Artistic Shift”- an initiative taken up to conserve, promote and support all forms of arts and at the same time encouraging young artists.

Bina Sarkar

Founder, Editor, Designer and Publisher, Gallerie

She is founder, editor, designer and publisher of International Gallerie, since 1997, an award-winning global arts and ideas publication encouraging critical awareness and understanding of cultural diversity as interpreted through the arts. She is also a curator, poet and fiction writer and has been published in anthologies and online sites. Her book of poems ‘FUSE’ was recently launched in New York and at several Poetry Festivals. She has received a Fellowship from the Asia Leadership Fellow Program and Japan Foundation, 2007, towards research and development of the project, Unity in Diversity: Envisioning Community Building in Asia and Beyond, the Times Group Yami Women Achievers’ award, 2008, and the FICCI/FLO 2013 award for excellence in her work.

Brinda Miller

Hon. Executive Committee memberKala Ghoda Association, Mumbai

Brinda has been with the Kala Ghoda Association almost since its inception , as Hon. Executive Committee member. She is involved in the beautification and heritage restoration projects in and around this now famous Art District of Mumbai, which hosts the only major multicultural festival in India - The iconic Kala Ghoda Arts Festival .Brinda has been Hon. Festival Director of the iconic Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, and has been instrumental in bringing this festival to its present popularity. She is also Art Adviser and Mentor to several NGOs and not-for-profit Art Organizations such as AVID, a learning program. She is a committee member of Artists' Centre, a non-profit art gallery. Brinda has also been on several prestigious Art and Design juries

Dr. Rajendra C Jagtap

Dr. Rajendra C Jagtap currently is the Chief Executive Officer of Pune Smart City Development Corporation Limited, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under Smart City Mission of the Government of India for implementation of Smart City Projects in Pune, India. Among his many responsibilities the key one is to carry out the implementation of various smart city projects and facilitate their execution for a successful launch for use of citizens. The Smart Cities Mission is an innovative and new initiative by the Government of India to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local development and harnessing technology to create smart outcomes for the citizens.

Sabina Sanghavi

Station Director, Radio One, Pune

With a career spanning for more than 3 decades, Sabina Sanghavi is not only the Business Cluster Director for 94.3 Radio One - Pune, Kolkata, and Chennai, but also has been responsible for the launch of Indian Express, Loksatta and Mid Day Pune editions. At present she is the Vice Chairperson: Pune Festival, Vice Chairperson: Pune International Film Festival, Founding Chairperson: Shaniwarwada Music & Dance Festival, Pune, Founder President: Spectrum, A Ladies' Study Group and Chairperson of the FICCI FLO, Pune.

Sanjeev Pawar

Founder/Mentor partner Art2Day gallery

Sanjeev Pawar is the Founder/Mentor partner of Art2Day gallery, the oldest professional art gallery in Pune. He is currently responsible for Admin, Marketing and networking domains within Art2Day. Since he belongs to an artist as well as an entrepreneur family background, his strength has been network, both, of people and art institutions.

Sanjiv Kumar

Shyaam Dhawale

He is former Executive Engineer and Head of Heritage Department in PMC. He has completed lot of conservation projects of Heritage buildings in the Pune city. He also initiated Heritage Walk with the help of NGO and rewarded National tourism award. He also initiated Pune Darshan bus tour , Bund garden Art plaza , various museums and memorials. Various Art galleries and Auditoriums are constructed and renovated under his leadership. He has been member of Heritage Committee for 15 years. He has participated various national & international paintings workshops
History, Art & Culture is his passion .

Suhas Diwase

IAS officer

Suhas Diwase is an IAS officer from the Government of Maharashtra currently posted as the Commissioner of Agriculture. He has a Masters degree in Public Policy from the National University of Singapore. He has amassed over 20 years of experience in all facets of public service. He has had experience working in revenue services, urban planning and development as well as disaster management. He also spearheaded the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation working closely with individuals and organizations promoting tourism through art and culture. He is also an art lover and enjoys leisurely painting and sketching.

Ramprasad Akkisetti

MD, CCB Architects and Founder, IHA Gallery

Ramprasad Akkisetti, is a Founder Managing Director of Christopher Charles Benninger Architects (CCBA). He has been in the creative space for the past 2 decades, leading the country's premier architectural firm. He is an alumnus of AFMC, having academic backgrounds in medicine, psychology and anthropology, Ram has authored books such as 'Psychology for Beginner's being the first to the latest, 'Architecture for Modern India' a monograph, published by Skira Rizzoli, apart from being a publisher of one of the best seller architectural book, "Letters to a young architect" in addition to having written about architecture and published photographs in more than 100 journals and magazines in India and abroad. He is an advisor to the Pune Biennale 2017 and 2019. He is also part of the think tank to carve out a course on Heritage management and conservation as Part of Deccan College curriculum. He has toured around the world and lectured on Art, Architecture and Life style at several forums. Currently, he divides his time as a painter and a curator at India House Art Gallery and as MD of CCBA.